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•The Ukrainian central bank is stepping up
efforts to push Russian state-owned commercial banks out of the local
market, according to Voice of America. Five Russian
state-owned banks operate in Ukraine, including three in the top 20,
and their combined market share is roughly 9 percent.

•Zaporizhia-based Industrialbank and Kyiv-headquartered Express
Bank are going to merge, reported Ekonomicheskaya Pravda. Mikhail
Bukreev, the board chairman of Industrialbank, said the merger is
crucial, and he said it would benefit both customers and
stockholders.

•The ongoing decline in turnover at Ukrainian ports deepened in
2016 as the country posted an 8.6 percent drop from 2015, the
steepest in four years, according to the Center for Transport
Strategies. “That
means Ukraine is losing its position in the export of two other basic
goods, ferrous metals and iron ore, which account for over a third of
the ports' total turnover,”
said consultant
Andrei Isayev.

•The Cabinet will exclude the Food and Grain Corp. of Ukraine from
the list of state-owned companies subject to privatization in 2017,
the government said Wednesday in a report picked up by Interfax
Ukraine. The government said it reached that decision in part because
the business cannot be privatized without the consent of its main
creditor, the Export-Import Bank of China.

•Iran invited Ukraine to join the international Persian Gulf-Black
Sea agreement, multiple sources reported. Ukrainian officials said
the plan is important for the development of a transportation
corridor linking India, Iran and the Black Sea. It is also expected
to boost traffic on the trans-Caspian route.

•Ukraine’s exports to the European Union in 2016 amounted to 37
percent of the country's overall exports for the year, marking a 3
percent increase, according to Ukrinform. Meanwhile, only 9.8 percent
of Ukrainian exports in 2016 went to Russia, a precipitous drop of
more than 25 percent.

•Total agricultural output by Ukrainian producers in 2016 grew 6
percent and was highlighted by a nearly 40 increase in buckwheat
production as well as record-breaking harvests of wheat, sunflowers
and sugar beets, Ukrinform reported.

•Ukraine's Cabinet on Wednesday adopted a resolution to boost
cooperation with the EU in the aviation sphere, multiple sources
reported.

•Passenger traffic at Kharkiv International Airport was up 45
percent in January year on year, thanks in large part to Istanbul
flights, and Lviv's airport saw 55 percent more passengers in the
same time period, the Center for Transport Strategies reported. Also,
Lviv airport management will try to lure budget airline Norwegian to
offer service to Norway, Europe and South America.

•Finance Minister Alexander Danyliuk announced that Ukraine plans
to borrow on foreign markets by issuing eurobonds this year, but the
issue won't be for a large amount because Ukraine relies more on
loans from its main lenders, the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank, Unian reported.

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